Five Green
I am not suggesting it is time to input 7700 into the transponder.
My point is quite simple.
This economic downturn is very very different to anything that has happened in the last 50 years. The global aviation business has gone to hell in a handbasket in terms of revenue and yield very very quickly. More so on the cargo side than the pax side. Basically no one knows when things will pick up but carriers that can take capacity out will do so as quickly as they can and try and maintain the ability to bring it back on line should things turn.
SARS was bad but it was finite. Cargo was pretty much unaffected and actually carried the company.
The owned fleet has to be written down on the balance sheet as the re-sale market is non est. The order book has to be funded. Even a HKD30bn cash position, while healthy, is chicken feed against the order book at HKD1bn an a/c.
And yes, it doesn't seem thus on the 400 but that is a small part of the picture.
I agree we should stand up for ourselves but as any poker player will tell you, a pair of twos is not something you put all your chips on.
I, for one, won't be trying to extend but to those that are savaging the extendees, they are not part of this problem, only a convenient whipping boy.
Last edited by VR-HFX; 9th April 2009 at 08:07.